Frustrated by a lack of informed and honest review websites covering a wide range of electronic music, I write them myself.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Hydroponic Garden

Ultimae Records: 2003/2011

I could go on and on about how brilliant Carbon Based Lifeforms’ Hydroponic Garden sounds, to which those who know will nod in agreement, and those who’ve instead discounted my praise of Ultimae Records shall remain in the dark. It's a given fact at this point that little of what I say here will convince the doubtful, but trust me, if you’ve yet to drink of the Ultimae cup, it shall remain your loss for it is quite delish'.

No, screw that. Selling Carbon Based Lifeforms should be easy, especially to old schoolers as the act’s sound harkens back to ambient techno of the early to mid-'90s: simple, laid back rhythms, haunting synths, samples of dialogue and nature, and TB-303. Hell, even the album's title and tracks sound scientific and futuristic, like something you might have found on Beyond, Recycle Or Die, Apollo, or Fax+. If you're one of those folks yearning for more of a vintage ambient techno sound untethered from the modern obsession with laptop noodling and glitch (*cough*), Hydroponic Garden really is a no-brainer, especially with the lush Ultimae Mixdown included in the deal.

Alright, I'm getting ahead of myself. Who even are Carbon Based Lifeforms, and what sort of particulars can we find on their proper debut album? The act itself is a Scandinavian duo comprised of Johannes Hedberg (sounds like a hockey player) and Daniel Sergestad (or is that Ringström?), who’s also the chap behind Sync24 (how’d you miss that tidbit of info, 2012 Sykonee?). They’d released prior material on MP3.com and CDr, though went mostly unnoticed. Their luck considerably changed when they got to showcase their talents on the Fahrenheit Project series from Ultimae, stealing the spotlight on the third edition with the track MOS 6581. Hot anticipation followed, and within a year came Hydroponic Garden.

Whether the album met expectations, I haven’t a clue, as that was a decade ago now (scant reviews of it are positive though). Even if for some absurd reason it didn’t, Hydroponic Garden’s held up perfectly fine as an entry into the ambient techno canon. There’s pulsing dub numbers like the opener Central Plains, the titular track, and Silent Running, blissy acid with Tensor, Neurotransmitter, and Comsat, and lovely, spacey ambient passages on Exosphere, Refraction 1.33, and Artificial Island. The two highlights, of course, are a revamped version of MOS 6581 – the lovely synth melodies are given extra weight and space – and Epicentre (First Movement), essentially an ambient version of the same tune found on Fahrenheit Project: Part 4.

I guess the only fault to be had with Hydroponic Garden is that similar versions of The Big Two can be found elsewhere, somewhat diluting whatever special quality they have within the album itself. That, along with a small drag in the middle, are the only quibbles I have, but whatever. I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I. If not, this is a worthy addition to any ambient techno collection, so get on it, folks.